Dry-pipe valve



a 17 1927. 1628674 M y L. M. L Ewls DRY PIPE- VALVE Filed April 1l. 19222 sheets-sheet 1 N vE/v To?? May 17, 1927. 1,628,674

- L. M. L Ewls DRY PI PE VALVE Filed April 11. 1922 2 sheets-sneer 2 mmf@y @dx M l l Tram/sys Patented May 17, 1927,

UNITED STATES LEROY M. LEWIS. 0F MERION, PENNSYLVANIA,

DRY-PIPE VALVE.

Applcationled April 11, 1922. Serial No.\l,599.

My invention relates to dry pipe valves `for use in automatic sprinklersystemsand which comprise a casing and an air valve and a Water valvewithin the casing so` arranged that air pressure exerted *on the formeris operative to maintain the latter in closed position against thepressure of the water in the supply pipe, a valve of this generalcharacter forming the sllhject of my copending application for ll. S.Letters Patent Serial No. 514,44() tiled November 12, 1921.

A principal object of the present inventien is the provision of meansfor automatically opening and closinga drain from one ofthe chambers ofthe valve/in correl `spondence with the position of the Water valveclapper and inassociation with means for preventing the water valveclapper from accidentally closing after it 'has opened, so thatiunder nocircumstances can the fiow ot Water through the dry pipe valve heinterrupted after it has been onceinitiated. A further object of myinvention is to provide means in association with the drainage valve andmanually operable from the outside of the dry pipe valve casing throughthe medium'of which themeans which are effective to prevent the`accidental closure of the water valve as aforesaid may be actuatedduringthe operation of resetting the `dry pipe valve to permit the Watervalve to be `returned to its seat.

`A further object of my invention is the prrivision of means operativeto open a drain from the interior of the dry pipe valve when the watervalve clapper is brought to closed position and to maintain the drainopen so long as the Water clapper remains ,in such position andwhich,when the water clapper moves from its seat and permits the entrance ofWater into the interior of the casing, are operative to automaticallyclose the drain to prevent the escape of water therethrough so long asthe Water cla )per remains in open position.

il still further object of my invention `is to generally improve andsimplify the. construction of dry pipe valves so as to reduce their costand facilitate the process of manufacture; to so dispose and arrange thevariolel parts as to reduce the size and bulk of the valve casing and toeffect such otherl `various objects, "improvements and novel features-ofconstruction and arrangement as are hereinafter more specificallyreferretfl` to or described or are appa-rent from the accompanyingdrawings forming a part hereof. X

In the `said drawings I have illustrated a dry pipe valve embodying apreferred form of my invention, Fig. 1 being a vertical section throughthe Valve with certain of Vthe parts in elevation, the air and Watervalve elappers being shoWnin full lines in normal or closed position and`their position when fully open beingindicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2is a fragmentary enlarged top plan view of the drain operatingrmechanism and adjacentparts, a portion of the Water valve clapper beingshown in plan and a portion of the casing in horizontal section. Fig. lis an enlarged fragmentary vertical. section on the line lil- 3 in Fig.2 looking in the direction of the arrows but showing the Water valveclapper in partially open position and the drain operating mechanism inclosed positioinand Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail top plan view of thedrain valve and certain associated parts, a portion of the dry valve'casing being shown in horizontal section. Like numerals are used todesignate the same parts in the several figures.

y Referring novvmore particularly to the drawing, the dry pipe valveshown therein comprises a main casing 1 provided with an `inlet 2 which,when the valve is in use, is

connected to a suitable Water supply pipe While above and in substantialvertical aligmnent With the inlet, the casing provided With an outlet 3which in use connected toa distributing` pipe. The casing may be'considered as divided into upper and `lovver chambers 5 and 6 throughthe medium of a web formed integrally with the casing, the upper chamberbeing provided with a connection 7 positioned in its Wall atsubstantially the height at which this chamber is kept filled Withpriming Water under normal conditions of operation. Throiigh thisconnection both the priming Water and the air for filling the system maybe conveniently introduced from suitable sources of sup ply. The chamber6 is provided with a connection 8 from Which a pipe may be extended tothe alarm valve usual in sprinkler systems, while the inlet may also beprovided -with a connection 9 for convenient attachment of a suitablevalve for testing `the presence or absence of water in the sup- Ply pipeand inlet. 0 y

Supported by the web 10a which substan lil sired form is employed.

tially sepa 'ates the upper and lower chambers, is an air valve seat l2conveniently consisting of a ring of babbit metal, the web beingangularly disposed in the casing and bored `out at its center within theseat 12 in such manner as to afford a clear passage from the inlet 2 tothe outlet 3, the angle of inclination of theweb and tace of the seat inthe particular valve illustrated being substantially 45o to thehorizontal.

The valve clapper of the air valve comprises a substantially disk shapedmember 15 with a flexible annular gasket 17 of rubber or other suitablematerial disposed at its periphery and clamped in position by a suitablering 19 held` by screws 20 or in any other convenient manner, thearrangement being such that thegasket is operative to engage the upperface of the seat ,12 and form a tight closure when forced thereagainst.Thevalve'clapper is carried by a suitable armV or arms Q2 convenientlyformed integral with the clapper, curving outwardly and downwardly fromits periphery and pivoted at the outer end on a transversely extending,horizontally disposed pivot shaft 2i having its ends secured in thecasing wall in any suitable or convenient manner, the arm and clapperbeing thus free to revolve about the axis of the shaft as the former ismoved toward or away from its seat.

For closing the inlet 2 a suitable water valve dapper-Q5 of anyconvenient or de- As shown, the clapper comprises a substantiallycircular metallic disk adapted to engage the upper face of an annularseat 26 threaded into the wall of the casing adjacent the mouth of theinlet 2 and disposed in a horizontal plane. The water clapper isprovided with one or more outwardly extending arms 27 preferablyintegral with the clapper and pivoted at their outer ends on atransversely extending` horizontally disposed pivot shaft 28 the ends oiwhich are secured in the casing in any convenient way; the relativeposition of the shafts Q4 and 28 being such that when the two clappersare moved from normal or closed position, in which they are disposed ina relatively angular relation`I to full open position (asindicated indotted lines in Fig. l),v they will approximate a substantially parallelrelation. Meansare also provided for connecting the water valvel clapperwith the air valve clapper in such manner as to enable the same to workin unison. Conveniently for this purpose the water valve Clapper isprovided with a pair of centrally disposed, laterally spaced, upwardlyprojecting ears between which one end eta link 34 is pivoted on ahorizontal pivot pin 35, the other end of the link 'being pivoted onV ahorizontal pivot pin 37 between a pair of downwardly directed, laterallyspacedV ears 38 formed integral with the water valve chippersubstantially adjacent its center, the ends ot the link and the adjacentears being bored ttor the passage of the pivot pins which are held inposition in any convenient way as by cottcr pins 3S). lt will be notedthat :is the pivot 28 is located between the pivots ilf aud Elf anytendency of the valve clappcr to move laterally across the face of itsseat when the air clapper is brought to i'ully sented position and whichmight otherwise occur owing to the angular thrust of the link 3ft isthus entirely negatived.

In the preferred construction substantial ly the whole of that side ofthe casing toward which the air clapper turns in its open ing movementis left open when the casing is cast, and a cap or cover 43 of: suitableform is provided tor operatively elo-fing the same. said cover beingremovably held in position by suitably disposed bolts 44 and preferablyprovided on its inner Atace witha resilient stop 45 ot rubber or othersuitable matcrinl positioned to limit the move ment ot the air valveclappen the position ot the stop being such as to permit the clapper tocross the vertical toward the end of its opening movement so that oncethe limit thereof is attained the weight of the several parts becomesoperative to maintain the clappers in open position until the air valveis manually returned to its seat, which operation may be effected afterremoval of the cover.

For the purpose of draining the lower chamber G of any vater which mayseep into the same when the water valve is closed-r and forautomatically closing the drain whenever the water valve is open. Iprovide suitable means now to be described and pref erably associate thesame with means for preventing an accidental closure of the water valveclapper atter it has once opened. the useful function performed by saidlatter means being to positively prevent the clapper from re-seatingitselt should the air clapper rebound from the resilient stop tollowinga very violent upthrow ot the clappers or should the torce of the waterin the supply pipe be insuflicient to throw the clappers past thevertical on an openingl movement thereof. Additionally. I preferably soarrange portions ot the drain mechanism as to permit the manualactuation from the exterior ot the casing of the means 4tor preventingthe closure of the water valve clapper so that in the operation ofresetting the valve said last mentioned means may be manually removedfrom the path el the water valve clapper to permit its return to itsseat.

For eiiecting the functions just describml. I preferably dispose certainmeans` in a sort of pocket iormed in the casing adjacent the chamber 6and on the opposite side oft the under surface ofthe lugs 82 and raisethe toe of the dog, the point oi" contact between the lugs and pivotbeing in a plane lying between the toe of the dog and the pivot 72.

lIt is believed in view of the foregoing description of the form andarrangement of the several elements of the dry pipe valve inV theirpreferred embodiment, that a vdctailed description of the operation ofthe valveis unnecessary, as it` will be readily understoody that whenthe air and water clappers are in closed or normal position, the poppet58 is raised so as to vopen the drain `trom the lower chamber, and thetoe of the dog supported onthe upper `surface ot the lip `69. Upon theopening of the clappers the dog is thrown upwardly out of the path ofthe lip'but'immediately returns to a position to intercept its pathV andprior to the timewhen the water valve could ire-seat itself by yreasonof a reboundv or ot insniiicent water pressure, while as soon astlie'pressure on the toe 68 is relieved by the upward movementV of theclapper, the poppet seats itself in the bushing to prevent the escape otwater from the casing so long as the yclapper remains in open position.When it is desired to reset the valve the cover 43 is removed and thedoglifted out ofthe path of the lip by manually raising the stem of thepoppet from the outside ot the casing, after which tlieva-lves may beclosed down on their seats, and the cover replaced.

While I have hereinydescribed'and illustrated with considerableparticularity a pre- Aferred embodiment of myV invention, I do notthereby desire or intend to limit myself to any precisev details ofconstruction or arrangement of parts as the same may be modified andvaried from vthe particular `form and arrangement to which I `havereferred, without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas defined in thev appended claims.` f

Having. thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the United States:

l. A dry pipe yvalve comprising a casing havingl a chamber, a waterinlet communieating with said chamber,v a hinged valve clappercontrolling said inlet, a drain valve communicating-with said chamberand having-xa vertically movable poppet, a trip member extending intothe pathy of movement of said clapperY and movable thereby, a doghorizontally pivoted above the poppet and also extending into the pathot movement of said clapper, adapted to be positively moved -by theclapperin one'direction and operative to limit the movement of theclapper in the other direction, and means connecting said'trip and saidpoppetV and adapted to contact said dogV whereby said dog may-bemoved-'out ofthe path of said valve clapper bylifting the poppet. f

4 2. A dry pipe valve comprising a easing having `a chamber, a waterinlet conmniniv eating with said chamber, a. hinged valve `clappercontrolling the inlet, a drain valve communicating with said chamber andcomprising a hollow bushing forming a valve seat, a pop et verticallymovable in said bushing anc. cooperative with said seat, a horizontallypivoted trip member extending into the path of movement of said chipperand pivotally connected with said poppet by av horizontally disposedpivot pin, and a dog pivoted in the casing and having a portionextending into the path ot said chipper and a lng adapted tor engagementby said pinl` whereby the position o'lt said dog may be, altered byvertical movement ot said poppet.

3. A dry pipe valve comprising a casing having a cl'iamber, a waterinlet communieating with said chamber, a hinged valve clappercontrolling the inlet, a drain `valve communicating with said chamberand comprising a liollowhushing forming a valve seat, a poppctvertically movable in .said bushing and cooperative with said seat.` ahorizontally pivoted trip member extending into the path oi movement otsaid clapper and pivotally connected with said poppet by a horizontallydisposed pivot pin, and a dog horizontally pivoted in said casing andhaving a toe on one side of the pivot adapted to extend above theclapper when in closed position, a portion on the other side ot saidpivot adapted to Contact the casing to limit the movement of the dog inone directifni and a lug positioned for engagement by said pin wherebythe position. oi said dog maiv be altered by a vertical movement ot saidpoppet.

4. Adry pipe valve con'iprising a casing having a chamber, a water inletcommunicating with the chamber, a hinged valve clapper controlling saidinlet, a drain valve Vtor said chamber comprising a poppet having a stemprojecting outside ot the casing and vertically movable with respectthereto. a dog horizontally pivoted in the casing suhstantially abovesaid poppct and having a toe extending into the path ot movement andprojecting above a portion ot said clapper when the latter is in closedposition and means cooperative with the casing to limit, the extent ofdownward pivotal movement o t said toe when said chipper is in openposition, and means movable with said poppet and adapted to engage thedog whereby the position of the dog may be altered 'from the outside ofthe casing by movement oi" said stem.

54A dry pipe valve comprising a casing haviriga chamber, a water inletconminnicating with said chamber, a hinged water elapper-controllingsaid inlet, a drain valve Alor said chamber comprising a verticallymovable poppet having a stem extending outside ot' the easing, tripmeans in association with said poppet whereby when said elapper ie inposition to close said inlet the poppet will be raised and when inposition to open said inlet the poppet will be lowered, a dog pixh otedon a horizontal pivot within the easing having a toe extending into thepath of movement of said clapper adapted ifo-r actuation by the clapperwhen moving from closed to open position and means cooperative with thewall of the easing to limit the extent oi downward movementof said toeabout said pivot in either direction, and means eonneeting said `tripmeans and said poppet adapted to engage the dog' when said peppe-t israised whereby the toe oi the dog may be lifted out ot the path ot theelapper by movingr the end ot the stem projecting from the easing.

6. A dry pipe valve comprising a easing,1 having;r a ohaniber, a waterinlet' romnmnieating therewith, a pivoted valve elapper adapted to openand close said inlet, a dog horizontally pivoted. in the easing andhaving a toe adapted to extend above and into the path of movement oii'the elapper for positive aotinitionv by the elapper during its openingmovement, and means; whereby a vertical movement may he manm nallyimparted to the dog from the exterior ot' the easing' to move the dogout ot the path of the elapper.

7. A dry pipe valve eomprisingga easing havinfbil a chamber, a waterinlet Communie eating therewith, a pivoted valve elapper adapted to openand eloee the inlet, a dog pivoted in the chamber and having,l a toeadapted to be raised by the chipper during its opening movement, meansfor maintaining the toe o't the dogr in a. position to limit a downwardmovement o't the elapper toward its seat after the elapper has opened,and a drain valve tor said casing including a member partially extendingoutside of the easing,r and adapted when manually actuated to move saiddog 'trom said position and out of the path oi. said olappor.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 10th da ot April,1922.

L ROY M. LEVIS.

